A. Linwood Holton Governor’s School

I am happy to report that we are once again off to a great start here at HGS.We are serving over 200 students in our year long and fall semester classes,with spring enrollment projections even higher. It was my pleasure to meet with almost all of these students and many of their parents during ourOrientation Sessions, and I was most impressed with their energy andmaturity. We are very excited about our two new classes, “Methods ofResearch” and “Introduction to Engineering Methods & ComputerProgramming”. Both of them have been well received by our students and weanticipate they will be very beneficial to students who complete them.

A number of changes have been implemented for the 2008-2009 year which we feel will be beneficial to all of our educational partners and particularlyour students. Perhaps the most innovative instructional change is ouracquisition of one hundred Flip Video Cameras which we have placed in thelibraries of our partnering high schools (see the article later in the newsletter).They will make it possible for our students to record various projects,experiments, etc. and submit their work to their instructors in a multi-media format. Increasingly, regardless of the career a student may choose, they will be required to submit their research, ideas, etc. in this fashion rather than thetext format that has been the standard for so many years. Learning thisimportant skill while a student in our school should be a significant advantage when our students move on to college and eventually their careers.

“Students Use Multi-media to Enhance Their Work”

Business Week Magazine called it a “sweet and simple camcorder”, ABC News said “this camera could fundamentally change the way we view and interact with people and places around us”, but the Teachers and students atHGS just call it “cool”! With the placement of one hundred Pure Digital 60-Minute Flip Camcorders in libraries of our partnering high schools, HGS makes it easy for students to record experiments, projects, homework, etc. andsubmit their work in a multi-media fashion – the way they will be expected to do in most colleges and jobs they will eventually move on to. “We are allvery excited to see the many creative ways our students and teachers will putthis new technology to work,” said Mr. Dixon when he shared the news withour Advisory Committee in a recent meeting.

Our Focus: Students First

www.hgs.k12.va.us Virginia’s First Virtual Governor’s School

Danny D ixonDirector

Fa l l 2008 News let ter

Director’s News

Contents

Director’s News 1

Anatomy & Physiology 2

Methods of Research 3

Probability & Statistics 4

Students Scan the Universe 5

Holton History Homespun 6

EM&CP Snippets 7

Student Reflections 8

Appreciation Luncheon 9

Commitment 10

E-mail: holton@hgs.k12.va.us

P.O. Box 1987

One Partnership Drive Abingdon, VA 24212

Phone: (276) 619-4326

Fax: (276) 619-4328

Class News ALHGS NewsletterPage 2 of 10

The new school year has begun and much is happening in the HGS Anatomy & Physiology Classes. The first lab reports and tests have been turned in and completed. For some students the class has been an awakening to the rigors of a college class. Yes, they are studying! It has proven to be necessary and most are benefiting from this experience. It has been great for the students to get to know each other. For the first time we have

students from Carroll County High School. The students are meeting each other at football and volleyball games as well as golf matches. There is no other experience in Southwest Virginia like the Governor’s School. Recently I participated in the National Association of Biology Teachers Conference in Memphis, Tennessee. It was wonderful to be able to share and learn new teaching methods from other college level instructors of Human Anatomy & Physiology. Of course they are in awe of the way Holton Governor’s School classes are taught. It was also good for me to learn about the latest research with proteins. They compose at least 75% of the dry mass of cells and as my students will tell you “they rule” the body. I also have some fresh new ideas for labs with proteins now. “Hot topics of study” along with the human body are biotechnology, forensics science, and stem cell research. These will be incorporated into the course more and more in the future as new discoveries and research dictates. Some of the students are looking forward to our trip to Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Virginia, in November. Others will be going in March of 2009. There is a possibility that we will be able to observe a couple of different cardiac surgical procedures. This will be a new experience for me as well and we are all very excited. Of course this will depend on whether these surgeries are scheduled for the day we are at the Medical School. For many of my students this will be their first opportunity to work on cadavers, an experience from which previous classes have learned much. We are now in the process of preparing for this exciting field trip. You may be aware of constant laboratory experiments going on in your kitchen. Thank you for allowing my students to conduct their labs at home. I hope they are sharing what they are learning about proteins, enzymes, DNA fingerprinting, and bone construction. I am very appreciative of my students. It has been wonderful getting to know them so far this year. I am looking forward to the rest of the learning experiences we will share in class.

Page 3 of 10ALHGS Newsletter Class NewsClass NewsALHGS Newsletter Page 3 of 10

Can this resourceful course help your students?

You better believe it.

he Methods of Research Course addresses a variety of concepts and skills important to success in several high school and college courses. Students will learn basic principles necessary to interpret

research studies and develop skills in creating, analyzing, and presenting their own study. Along the way they will learn how to effectively search traditional and digital libraries to find exactly what they are looking for. The concepts and skills learned in this course will be of value to students throughout their college years and into their chosen careers.

T

Their Future! Information is a powerful resource and learning how to acquire it is one of the most important skills to develop. The gifted students in our schools are our future professionals - doctors, researchers, scientists, lawmakers, teachers, etc. Research skills they learn in this class will continue to be important to them and the people they serve…now and into the future. Technology Components! Methods students present their research in different ways. In this picture, Justin is using Audacity, a sound editing program, to present his project. His topic dealt with the effects of pollution in our local lakes and streams here in Southwest Virginia. Other Technology Components Audacity | Blogging | Flip Video | i-Tunes | Pod-casting | PowerPoint | Web Design

Class News Page 4 of 10ALHGS Newsletter

Probability and Statistics: It’s A Class with ! Students taking Probability and Statistics see lots of Flash! No, it is not fireworks when they work a problem. It’s easy to use high quality streaming video. Concepts are king in the Governor’s School Probability and Statistics class. While the subject of Probability and Statistics is everywhere around, frequently students have difficulty seeing its application, which embodies the concepts. To aid in students’ understanding, the Governor’s School purchased the rights to broadcast to our students, via the Internet, the program series Against All Odds: Inside Statistics. The series of twenty three programs introduces students to the math concepts required to successfully solve problems by exposing them to the same concepts in everything from pizza marketing to explaining historical baseballs player performance trends to forecasting weather. Once the program distribution rights were purchased, the next task was choosing a broadcast technology. While the Governor’s school streams in the Windows, QuickTime, and Real Video formats, the search was on for an even more powerful streaming technology. The choice was clear: Flash Media Server. With the introduction of this server technology over the summer to the school’s already state-of-the-art systems, the students have easy access to video without the typical player or internet connection problems.

With the use of the Flash technology to deliver the Probability and Statistics programs, latency in video start times is very small or non-existent. More importantly, the students can see a near standard definition television broadcast quality video with only a cable modem like connection. Furthermore, the HGS’s Flash software allows for ever increasing content delivery improvements. Once HD content is available, the streaming server technology on site can stream HD like video to someone with a good cable modem connection. Probability and Statistics never looked so good!

Class NewsALHGS Newsletter Page 5 of 10

Students will remotely control the telescope via the Internet by connecting from their classroom to Operations Control at LCER, who then pass control of the antenna to the students. Students learn how to gather data, what that data means, and how to analyze and record it using a computer software program. They work together, learning team participation and problem-solving skills. The results of the student data analysis are forwarded to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for inclusion in a database of scientific knowledge.

Goldstone Apple Valley Radio Telescope

Soon students at A. Linwood Holton Governor’sSchool will be able to target celestial objects utilizingthe remotely controlled Goldstone Apple ValleyRadio Telescope in California. The radio telescope islocated at the Goldstone Deep SpaceCommunications Complex in the Mojave Desert,near Barstow, California. The antenna has a dish 34meters (110 feet) in diameter, is nine stories high, andweighs 850,000 pounds. Known as Deep SpaceStation 12 (DSS-12), the antenna was used byNASA's Deep Space Network to track roboticplanetary missions such as the Mariner missions,Voyagers 1 and 2, Galileo, and other spacecraftexploring the Solar System. Dr. Steve Rapp, the school’s astronomy instructor,traveled to the Lewis Center for Education Research(LCER) in California to participate in a 5-day training course on the radio telescope in mid-October. He learned the fundamentals of radioastronomy, received guidelines on the use of thecurriculum provided, and how to operate the 34-meter antenna. In California, he met the staff at theLCER Operations Control Center and traveled to Goldstone to inspect the antenna up close.

Students to Scan the Universe Using NASA Radio Telescope

Dr. Rapp during his training in Goldstone

Class NewsALHGS Newsletter Page 6 of 10

Holton History Homespun

Appalachian History

The A. Linwood Holton Governor’s School AppalachianHistory students are making history! Well, they aremaking a concerted effort to research and preserve thehistory of far Southwest Virginia. When the final editingof the 07-08 projects is completed, the on-live Archivewill expand to include oral interviews and reports on keypeople and events of local history. The current class isdelving into the history of several key events of regionalhistory for their Local History Reports. These on-going topics include: the Red Jacket Mine Explosion, the Battleof Gladeville, the Hanging of John Harden, and the 1977Clinchport Flood. In addition, the Fall 2008 CourseProjects include the importance of Tobacco to SouthwestVirginia, the Home Place historic site, and the history ofBush Mill. Students are utilizing a variety of media to record thehistory of the region. We expect some formal essays,Powerpoint presentations, interview transcripts, and, withthe recent introduction of the Flip video cameras to theALHGS teaching arsenal, videos should soon join theArchive. It is all a go with the Appalachian folks! Western Civilization

Western Civilization students, not to be outshone by their Appalachian colleagues, are plumbing the depths of the ancient Greeks and their world with an emphasis on the great Peloponnesian War as told by Thucydides, the Greek DramaticLegacy, and the role of the early Philosophers in the formation of our Western intellectual tradition. From debating the consequences of war in the Melian Dialogue to considering the anguish of Medea to questioning the nature of reality with Plato, Western Civilization students this fall are addressing the Greco-Roman heritage of the West in various ways.

World Civilization students study the World! With anemphasis this semester on the impact of culturalinteraction on human history, the World Civilizationstudents are delving into the role of trade, warfare andmigration in the spread of culture. Having a firm basis inglobal history through the year 500 BC, they are nowembarking on an understanding of how we arrived wherewe are as a planet in the year 2008.

World Civilization

Page 8 of 11ALHGS Newsletter News for You Page 7 of 10ALHGS Newsletter Class News

Engineering Methods & Computer Programming

The Governor’s School’s new course, Introduction to Engineering Methods and Computer Programming, is off to a gigahertz start. Students are learning object oriented coding through exploring the Python programming language and then using it to solve technical problems as well as authoring video game type programs. Next up for students: Scheme programming, a dialect of the artificial intelligence language LISP, will be followed by the C++ language using Microsoft’s Visual Studio Integrated Development Environment. In the spring, students will be teaming for video game development competitions and robot programming.

Did you know that while the Python Programming Language logo, pictured at right, looks like two snakes, the language actually got its name from the Monty Python Flying Circus comedic group.

It’s not to late to sign up for the spring 2009 block term to be a part of this exciting class!

Page 5 of 6ALHGS Newsletter Student NewsALHGS Newsletter Student News Page 8 of 10

Among the First

Hello HGS folks! My name is Amanda Pullum, although you may know me as Amanda Kelly. I graduated from Whitewood High School (now Twin Valley) in 2001, and I was part of the first classes of the A. Linwood Holton Governor’s School from 1998-2001. After high school, I attended Virginia Tech. In 2005 I graduatedwith a B.S. in biology and a B.A. in interdisciplinary studies,with a focus on sociology and social change. Due in part to thedual enrollment college credits I learned through the HGS, I wasable to complete dual bachelor's degrees in four years, even afterchanging majors at the beginning of my sophomore year at VT.After that, I stayed at Virginia Tech for a few more years andcompleted an M.S. in sociology in 2007. At Virginia Tech Itruly realized how helpful the HGS had been in preparing me forlife after high school. Not only did I enter college with computerskills that I probably would not have learned in high school, but Ialso was highly prepared for the science and statistics courses thatwere required for my degree programs. In May 2008 I married my best friend Shawn. A few monthslater, we moved to beautiful, sunny, southern California. Thissemester I am starting a doctoral program in sociology at theUniversity of California at Irvine, and my husband is working inthe Dean of Students office at the university. I also received aprestigious two-year diversity fellowship to support my studies atUCI. Even today, I am still using the skills that I began learningin the HGS. Statistics, for example, is an important tool insociology, and I will be taking several statistics courses in mydoctoral program. While there was no statistics class available inmy high school, there was one taught through the HGS, and I am

Amanda and Shawn

sure that Dr. Norton will be pleased to know that today I'm still using the knowledge I gained from his class many years ago. After finishing my Ph.D., I plan to stay in academia and become a university professor. I truly believe that the HGS does an outstanding job of encouraging and preparing students to attend college. Most of my HGS classmates withwhom I've kept in touch have completed bachelor's degrees, and several have earned graduate and professional degrees. I'm very proud to have had the opportunity to be among the first HGS students, and I'm so pleased to see that the HGS is still providing new and challenging educational opportunities for students throughout southwest Virginia.

ALHGS Newsletter Our Thanks Page 9 of 10

Let Us Show Our Thankfulness!

On November 14th, superintendents, principals, counselors, facilitators, gifted and technology coordinators and others across the region will attend an Appreciation Luncheon at the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center on their behalf. “On behalf of the faculty and staff of HGS, I would like to express our appreciation toall of our educational partners, our Advisory Committee, and our Governing Board foryour ideas, guidance, and unwavering support of our school and its programs. It is apleasure to work with each of you and we look forward to another successful year!”said Danny Dixon, Director of the School. “The goal of the luncheon is to let our supporters know that we are aware of the resources that they provide to our studentsand that they are appreciated.”

Thank You!

Even though everyone will not be available to attend, our desire is to let them know that they are indeed appreciated.

Abingdon High Appalachia High

Bland High Carroll County High

Castlewood High Chilhowie High Clintwood High Coeburn High Council High Ervinton High

Galax City High Gate City High Graham High

Grayson County High

Grundy High Haysi High

Holston High Honaker High Hurley High

J.I. Burton High J.J. Kelly High

John Battle High Lebanon High

Lee High Marion Senior

Mt. Rogers Combined Northwood High

Patrick Henry High

Pocahontas High Pound High

Powell Valley High Richlands High

Rocky Gap High Rye Cove High St. Paul High

Participating Schools

Tazewell High Thomas Walker High Twin Springs High Twin Valley High

Virginia High

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Participating Colleges

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Page 10 of 10 ALHGS Newsletter Our Thanks

Is to provide challenging learning opportunities for the gifted & talented students of far Southwest Virginia that are not available tothem in their regular school program. We will accomplish this by strengthening their abilities and nurturing their social and emotional well being - through mentoring, rigorous academic courses, service to the community,and leadership training within an entrepreneurial culture that encourages creativity, initiative, and problem solving.

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Thank You for your

commitment!

Mr. Willie Sullivan .........................Buchanan County Ms. Virginia Goodson.....................Bristol City Ms. Willie Harris ............................Norton City Mr. William Patton .........................Dickenson County Mr. Don Brooks ..............................Lee County Ms. Linda Cross..............................Russell County Mr. Lowell Campbell......................Scott County Ms. Susan Sneed .............................Smyth County Ms. Cookie Johnson........................Tazewell County Mr. Curtis Burkett...........................Washington County Ms. Betty Cornett............................Wise County Dr. Alan T. Lee ...............................Superintendent’s Representative

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Ms. Sarah Cromer ...........................Administrator, Tazewell County Mr. Jim Johnson..............................Virginia Highlands Community College Ms. Rita Street ................................Administrator, Russell County Mr. Michael Brickey.......................Administrator, Scott County Mr. Gary “Bo” Catron.....................Administrator, Washington County Mr. Don Shaffer..............................Counselor, Washington County Ms. Debra Gilly ..............................Governor’s School Facilitator, Wise County Mr. Richard Pannell ........................Community Member, Washington County

Our Mission: